The Moon is Down
by John Steinbeck
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Book Summary Information
Author: John SteinbeckEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2000
ISBN: 0141185538
Number of pages: 144
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Book Reviews of The Moon is Down
Book Review: "... and the flies conquered the flypaper"
Summary: 5 Stars
Today, Steinbeck's World War II novella, sixty six years after it was written, has gained a timeless significance: a brief, yet well thought-out glimpse into human relationships, between occupation and resistance in times of war. Published in 1942, the book was translated, clandestinely distributed and eagerly read by people in German-occupied countries. In the United States, it was also criticized for being too soft and generous in the depiction of the enemy. Whereas early impressions may suggest to the reader a surprisingly light parody or simplistic morality tale, we soon recognize the subtle, and with each page mounting, intensity of Steinbeck's anti-war message.
Set in a small mining town in an unnamed country, invaded by an unspecified enemy force, numerous hints, however, suggest that the story's events take place in Northern Norway at the time of the 1940 Nazi occupation. The townspeople, totally unprepared for an invasion after having lived in peace for a very long time, had forgotten how to fight... Consequently the initial assault is over in less than an hour, well planned with the help of a local quisling. Taking control of the town and its mining operation turns out to be a much more complicated and difficult affair than Colonel Lanser and his battalion had been trained for and anticipated. Their headquarters established in the Mayoral residence, good Mayor Orden has little choice but to tolerate their presence. Steinbeck introduces the main players in the unfolding drama with a few yet defining characteristics. Orden, for example, comes across as an indecisive, somewhat dotty, older chap, fussed over by "Madame", his protective, efficient little wife. Doctor Winter, the local medic and historian and Orden's childhood friend does not appears to be up to the challenges, despite some traits of a Dr. Watson. But, early impressions are certainly misleading in this story.
On the opposing side, the officers are a motley collection of unlikely elite military personnel, described more like army caricatures: spending more time debating than leading the battalion: one is an Anglophile, another more concerned with his model railway than the battle, and yet another honestly believes that he can find real friendship among the women of the town. Except for Lanser, none of them had seen combat before and their naïveté is poignant. While justifying their action with "just following the Leader's orders", they soon realize that that excuse doesn't convince anybody. To achieve their primary objective, that is access to the town's coal, the officers insist on orderly cooperation from the townspeople, increased production and an easy life for the soldiers. Herein, as they soon find out, lies the problem... While the soldiers are muddling through in their attempts to control the locals through arbitrary executions for disobedience and non-cooperation, occupiers and local resistance are caught in a spiral of events that will lead to inevitable results as one side is destabilized and the other made stronger. Nobody can escape, sidestep or ignore the brutality of war.
Steinbeck's subtle build up of the characters' strengths and weaknesses is superb. Orden (his name, incidentally, in German means "medal", often as a military decoration that Orden would have deserved...) is a case in point. His perceived malleability to the colonel's demands grows in fact into disguised and effective opposition: because he cannot represent his townspeople and therefore "cannot control what they do". The townspeople, initially confused, isolated yet quietly resisting, find new defence mechanisms and strength in coordination, and, like the flies the flypaper, may eventually overwhelm the enemy...
Steinbeck's novella is written in a series of tableaux as if set for the stage. (*) Each such set is introduced by a short depiction of the background or description of events beyond the confines of the scene's space, most often the Palace's drawing room. There, the lively dialogue between the main protagonists gives immediacy to the action threads of the story. With this narrative technique, Steinbeck focuses on the personal and intimate interaction between occupiers and occupied and their evolving relationship, underscoring the human tragedy of war and those caught up in it, whatever their personal guilt or innocence. [Friederike Knabe]
(*) It was in fact produced as such in 1943.
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